


Free Psychic Readings in Aisle 5

by GreenEggsnSam



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: (I mean its his POV so yea), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Alternative Meeting, Bad Puns, Dreamer Ronan, Everyone needs to experience a 24-Hour Grocery Store at 3am, Ghost Hunters, Horror in Chapter 2, Late-night grocery shenanigans, M/M, Ronan Lynch is Bad at Feelings, Ronan Lynch-centric, There is cursing for obvious reasons, psychic adam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-11 12:16:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19927945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenEggsnSam/pseuds/GreenEggsnSam
Summary: All of Ronan's run-ins with the mysterious Parrish had three things in common: 1) They always ran into each out at the 24-hour mart, 2) It was always some godforsaken hour in the morning, and 3) Parrish always left Ronan with some sort of cryptic advice.God, grocery stores were so weird at night.Between being a professional ghost hunter and a dreamer, Ronan really thought his life couldn't get any stranger. He was wrong.





	1. The Grocer Really Needs to Invest in Some New Lightbulbs

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this last week. It was supposed to be at max 6,000 words? Yea, the current word count is around 15,000 and I'm not finished editing the end yet. 
> 
> This is completely self-indulgent. I've been listening to some ~spooky~ podcasts lately and I love the idea of ghost hunters coming across entities that are definitely not in their job description. I also love how weird grocery stores are at night. So of course I threw those ideas at pynch. 
> 
> (Pssh, Keep in mind, this an alternate universe, they're all older than 23, and I have not read the books in a while - the characterization will not be on point.)
> 
> If you spot any errors please let me know! I'd love to improve in any way possible!

“Are you just going to stand there blocking the aisle all day?” Ronan stalked forward and playfully elbowed the other man in the side. “Some of us have real shopping to do.”

“Hmm yes, because all real shopping occurs at 4am.” Parrish rolled his eyes, but it was easy for Ronan to spot the grin that was spreading across his lips. “How much of a pain in my ass are you planning to be tonight?”

“I only operate at 100% asshole, you should know that by now.”

Parrish laughed and tossed a couple boxes into his handbasket. With an unfairly graceful step, he motioned to the now clear selection. “All your’s.”

“About time. I’ve been starving over here.” Ronan pretend grumbled and began to half-hazardly throwing products into his basket. All the while, Parrish watched him, an increasingly present smile playing upon his lips.

“What?” Ronan looked at the man with eyes narrowed eyes. Nothing about the smile boded well for Ronan.

“Nothing - I just suggest you invest in some sunscreen before tomorrow. Unless you plan on becoming a lobster that is.” The man broke out into a full grin now. “You’re definitely crabby enough for it.”

Ronan launched a box of crackers at Parrish, who dodged with an easy laugh. It was unfair how cute the laugh made him look. There were a lot of unfair things about Parrish.

“That one wasn’t even good and you know it.” Ronan muttered and Parrish laughed harder.

They finished shopping together and if Parrish had noticed the tube of sunscreen that had snaked its way into Ronan’s basket, he didn’t say anything.

When the next day came, Ronan wasn’t surprised to find the previously reported dreary day was nowhere to be seen. Instead, placed in the middle of a clear sky, was a brilliant, bright, burning sun. 

It was _Gansey & Co. Paranormal Investigators_ day to film, and by some miracle, Ronan, with his delicate Irish skin, was the only one to walk away without sunburn.

* * *

The first time Ronan spotted Parrish at the tiny 24-hour grocery store, it was 2am and Ronan hadn’t slept in days. Parrish was standing there in front of the tea display, holding a crumpled list in one hand and a sad box of Sleepy Time Tea in the other. A grocery handbasket hanged empty from his elbow.

The yellow lights flickered ominously above their heads and Ronan hadn’t seen the other man so much as blink.

It was really no surprise Ronan thought he was a ghost.

He even looked like the ghost. Parrish was practically a sepia portrait – he would have been perfectly cozy pinned up next to the old timey-wimey photographs Gansey collected and scattered across their apartment. He had tan skin, not the cosmetic tan Declan’s girlfriends always seemed to have, but one that came with harsh work, like he’d toiled under the sun for years. His hair was fair too, like straw in the old field near his family farm, dried of the vibrancy it once held.

Everything about Parrish screamed of something bigger than himself – of age and knowledge that didn’t match his human frame. Like somehow, despite standing right in front of Ronan, there was a bigger picture Ronan was missing.

The only things that convinced Ronan Parrish was maybe living were the dark circles beneath his eyes. He didn’t think ghosts needed sleep. That, and despite his alien featured, Ronan found him impossibly attractive. Ronan refused to believe he could be like one of those people in the tabloids: “ _I fell in love with a ghost! Turn to page 7 to learn how!_ ”

Ronan wasn’t sure how long he stood there staring. Probably long enough to be considered creepy and definitely long enough for Parrish to notice him. It was sudden when Parrish moved, like previously he had been – not asleep, but had been elsewhere and only just snapped back into his body. When Parish turned toward him, Ronan was met with the most brilliant blue eyes he’d ever seen.

The other man startled.

“Oh shit – I mean sorry, didn’t mean to block the aisle,” Parrish threw the Sleepy Time Tea into his basket and quickly backed away from the display, giving Ronan some room, “Must’ve dozed off for a second there.”

Ronan snorted. “Yea, tell that to someone who cares.” _Fuck._ Sirens were going off in Ronan’s head. Sure Ronan knew being an asshole was his default state, but why did it have to be now? 

In a blink of an eye, Parrish’s demeanor changed. Everything about him seemed to sharpen – he held himself taller, his limbs were stiff, and Ronan felt like actual daggers were piecing him from that glare.

Ronan also couldn’t help but think Parrish looked particularly attractive angry. He was so fucked.

“I’d say it was nice meeting you, but it wasn’t. Bye.” Parrish turned to leave and the sirens in Ronan’s head blazed louder. _Shit._ Ronan didn’t know what to do. He bet even the tiny bear on the Sleepy Time Tea label was mocking at him right now.

 _This was ridiculous._ Ronan didn’t even know the guy. He shouldn’t be feeling this way. He was Ronan Lynch for fuck’s sake! He pissed multiple people off a day _for fun_. His friends called him insufferable _and meant it_. One tired, attractive, sepia-colored man was not supposed to change that. Ronan knew all that, yet he couldn’t stop himself.

Parrish was halfway down the Aisle when Ronan called after him.

“Wait,” Parrish’s steps slowed, “My friend drinks Mint Tea to help him sleep. He swears by it. I prefer Lemon Balm, but can’t say it actually works.”

Parish had fully stopped and Ronan watched as he turned towards him. Ronan’s mouth felt oddly dry. His tongue fumbled over his next words. “My mom used to give it to us. Its… nice.”

“Nice?” Parrish asked, eyebrow quirked. He was walking closer now and the small smile Ronan spotted on the other man’s lips nearly made him swoon. He gulped.

“Yea. Nice.”

Parrish walked past Ronan and seemed to consider the tea selection again. He reached out and threw two more boxes into his basket. When he looked back to Ronan, his blue eyes flashed with blue electricity.

“Thanks for the suggestions. I’m Parrish by the way.”

Ronan felt his heartbeat faster. “Lynch.”

Parrish nodded. “See you around Lynch. Make sure to carry an umbrella tomorrow night. It’s going to pour.” Then Parrish was gone, disappeared to some other section of the grocery store.

It took Ronan several moments to regain his composure. When he felt his heart return to normal, Parrish’s last words hit him.

“But the forecasts supposed to be clear?” He muttered to himself. Ronan shook his head. He wasn’t in the right state of mind to even comprehend what had just happened. It was best to just continue with his own shopping like nothing happened.

It wasn’t until after he was in his BMW and flying down the highway, that Ronan realized the lights had stopped flickering once Parrish had left. _God, grocery stores were weird after midnight_.

The next night Ronan peeled into the long neglected cemetery with a loud screech. Behind him, Gansey respectfully drove and parked their ‘Paranormal Investigators’ Van. As soon as the van had halted, the back doors swung open and Noah and Henry popped out, already completely armed with ghost hunting gear. The Ghostbusters theme song was playing loudly from within the van.

“I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!” They both shouted in time with the music, looking absolutely ridiculous in their get-up. Without stopping, they ran into the cemetery, whooping and hollering.

“Remember, be respectful!” Gansey called out to them as he donned his own pack. Ronan was right beside him.

“Don’t worry Dick. The children know how to behave.” Ronan teased as they took their first steps onto cemetery ground.

Gansey rolled his eyes. “I wished they’d acted like it.”

The Mausoleum they had come to investigate wasn’t far from the road. Within 10 minutes, the small stone building was already within sight. They were just about to reach its gate when a large flash cut through the sky, followed by a tremendous roar. The skies opened up on them, and Ronan swore the rain was trying to drown them.

“It was supposed to be clear!” Gansey shouted as they ran. He was hunched over the camera, trying to protect it from the weather as much as possible.

“The weather channel is full of lies!” Henry called back, his hair flopping to one side. The rain had washed out his usual gravity-defying products. “We should investigate them next!”

Ronan grunted. They were almost to the van now. When they reached the doors, they clamored into back and took shelter from the rain, intent on waiting out the storm. They were completely soaked. Noah had disappeared to who knows. And worse yet, everything was muddy now. Ronan hated filming in the mud.

But they were _Gansey & Co Paranormal Investigators_ and they never half assed a hunt.

Later, the news would report the incident as a sudden freak thunderstorm. All Ronan could wonder was how Parrish, of all people, had impossibly known.

_Just who the fuck was he?_

* * *

Ronan needed to take his anger out on something. He had long since moved past the fist fights in parking lots and street racing of his teenage years. Now he took part in a sport even more grueling and aggressive.

 _Grocery Shopping_.

That’s why, after a particularly frustrating phone call with Declan, Ronan found himself at the 24-hour grocery, glaring daggers at a cartoon bee mascot.

“I don’t suppose those cheerios have betrayed your trust somehow?” A voice teased from behind him.

Ronan tore his glare from the box, ready to snap at the stranger. He was not in the mood. He was already criticized enough for everything else he did – he was not about to be criticized on proper cereal care. He had just opened his mouth for a biting remark when the words died in his throat.

Standing right beside him was Parrish.

It had been nearly a month since Ronan had run into the man. Looking at him now, he was definitely corporeal – the bags under his eyes weren’t as prominent, and the man was actually smiling at him. Now that Parrish was here again, right next to him, Ronan couldn’t fathom how he had ever mistaken him for a ghost.

“Thanks again for the tea suggestions.” Parrish smiled at him, “Can’t say they helped much, but they tasted nice enough. My roommate really liked the Lemon Balm.”

“Oh,” Ronan tried to drag his mind into what was happening, but this was polite conversation, one of Ronan’s most powerful weaknesses. He blanked. “That’s… good?”

Ronan smacked himself internally. Parrish only raised an amused eyebrow at him.

“So, care to share what’s bothering you? Or do I have to assume you have a personal vendetta against Buzz the Bee?” Parrish pointed to the Cheerios in Ronan’s hand and Ronan was shocked to see he had crushed half the box in his fist. Buzz was still smiling back at him, crumbled and ripped. Somehow that cartoon smile pissed him off more. Ronan snarled and threw the box back onto the shelf, not even caring to fix the display.

“Like I’d tell you.”

“Cool, I’ll just start referring to you as that cereal killer guy in my head then.” Ronan froze. Parrish had moved past him now and was loading his own cart full of colorful breakfast items. Ronan couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“Was that a-“ He started.

“Maybe.” Parrish moved a little further down the aisle. Ronan followed with his own cart.

“Did you really-“ He tried again.

“Probably.” Parrish was turning into the next aisle now and Ronan could see the smirk on the others lips. He dumbly followed after. They probably looked stupid like this - one guy actually shopping, the other following him like a lost, very dangerous puppy. Good thing no one was actually in the store to see them.

Parrish rolled his cart to some sale items and was eying them with interest. Something about watching the man stare at discounted and terrible novelty spoon calmed him.

“My brother doesn’t like-”

Parrish held up his hand and Ronan stopped. He shifted his head to in a position Ronan doubted was comfortable and glanced over at him. “Sorry, couldn’t hear you well,” Parrish pointed to his left ear, “I’m completely deaf in this ear. Accident when I was younger. Start again?”

 _Oh_. Ronan blinked at Adam a couple time – he never would have guessed. It took him a moment to restart: “My brother doesn’t think ghost hunting is a real job.”

“I think most of the American populace would agree with your brother.”

“But not you?” Ronan asked. Parrish didn’t even react at Ronan’s admission. Ronan had been ready for him to put him down, agree with his brother. Not, whatever that was.

Parrish stilled for a second, his hand hovering over a particularly hideous salt shaker. “No. Not me.”

 _Huh_. Ronan thought. He watched as Parrish pulled out the salt shaker. It was uglier up close – an angry gnome leaning on a toadstool. With the expression and how it was squatting, it looked like it was taking a shit.

“Look, it’s you.” Parrish smirked.

“Oh fuck you.” There was no heat behind Ronan’s words. Parrish laughed and it was like all his anger at the world, at Declan, had disappeared.

_God, he was becoming such a sap._

They continued shopping together, keeping light conversation. Pointing at the occasional ugly turnip and claiming it looked like the other. Ronan told Parrish some of the more ridiculous ghost stories he had experienced with the guys, and Parrish surprised him by having a very in-depth knowledge of the supernatural. It was – nice. Nice enough that Ronan didn’t even say anything when Parrish filled his entire cart with those disgusting fruit bottom yogurts.

“My roommate.” Adam shrugged, despite Ronan’s definitely not asking.

When they were both checked out and were ready to head home, Ronan found he desperately did not want to leave Parrish’s side. For once, he intended to let himself be known.

“Hey-“ Ronan turned and stopped. When he looked to Parrish, the man wasn’t there. No that was wrong. Parrish was physically there, but the face was empty. Wherever Parrish’s mind was, it was far far away. It was like the first time Ronan had spotted him. There was a bigger picture in front of him, one that Ronan just couldn’t see.

Then suddenly Parrish was back, facing Ronan and speaking like nothing had happened.

“Thanks for tonight.” Parrish reached down and grabbed his groceries, “Take care driving home and make sure to take the backroads. There’s going to be an accident on the highway.” Just like that, Parrish waved his goodbye and disappeared into the night. Really he just walked to the other side of the parking lot, where Ronan couldn’t see him, but disappeared into the night was more dramatic.

Ronan numbly headed back to his own car, stashed the groceries, and revved the engine. He banged his head once on the steering wheel. Stupid – he had been so close! Now all he had left was another cryptic message.

“ _Take the backroads_ ,” Ronan snorted, “Fuck that.” If he couldn’t drive 100mph, there was no point to driving at all. He switched the gears and peeled out of the parking lot.

Not fifteen minutes later Ronan came to a screeching halt. He couldn’t believe what was happening before his eyes. Lights were flashing everywhere, sirens blaring. He must have only missed getting mixed up in the collision by minutes.

In front of him laid a tractor trailer on its side. Its cargo of bricks, _fucking bricks_ , had escaped their restraints and were scattered across the highway. The truck was blocking every lane of traffic.

Ronan was stuck with nowhere to go. He cursed loudly.

* * *

“This guy – he somehow just knows things. First it was the rain, then that fucking accident. Every time I see him he leaves me with some cryptic message and it always comes true. It can’t be some coincidence!” Ronan ranted. It was their weekly ‘ _Lets Discuss Something Supernatural to Investigate_ ’ at Monmouth Manufacturing – they’re home base for hunts and also where they all lived. Ronan didn’t usually participate in these conversations besides a couple of grunts and maybe a _Fuck No_ at particularly stupid suggestions.

This time was different.

Ronan had run into Parrish more than a half-dozen times now. There were three things each of these meetings had in common: 1) They always ran into each out at the 24-hour grocery store, 2) It was always some godforsaken hour in the morning, and 3) Parrish always left Ronan with some sort of strange prophecy.

It was undeniable that something supernatural was going on.

“So he’s good at knowing the weather and traffic patterns. There’s nothing supernatural about that.” Henry said from behind his phone, thumb scrolling in a practiced rhythm. He was always convinced their next big thing would involve social media, as if twitter could recognize a real ghost from some dude wearing a sheet. He was obviously wrong on all fronts.

“He told me Gansey’s mint plant wasn’t getting enough sun.” Ronan grunted, “I never even told him about the plant. No one knows about the plant besides us.”

“He was right. It’s doing much better now.” Gansey responded from his piles of newspaper clippings.

“That’s not –“

“He also predicted that Ronan would mismatch his socks!1” Noah reported gleefully from the floor, various paranormal and occult magazines scatted around him.

“Oh! And remember when he told Ronan McDonalds wasn’t good for ravens!” Henry said.

Noah nodded sagely. “Yes only the best for Chainsaw.” Chainsaw, Ronan’s pet raven, cawed her agreeance from her perch on top one of the bookcases.

“I never even told him I had a bird!” Ronan waved his arms “You’re missing the-“

“And then he warned you about Henry screwing up the laundry.” Gansey threw in.

“Hey now. How was I supposed to know my new glitter tank would literally get on everything?” Henry shrugged, “Anyways it was a good look on Ronan.”

“I looked like a disco ball.” Ronan sneered.

“It’s okay Henry. I liked it.” Noah said.

“You don’t change your clothes!” Ronan shouted. He reached for the closest couch cushion and launched it at Noah. Noah laughed and completely vanished before the pillow could even reach him. When it landed way past where Noah had been sitting, he popped back into view, as if he had never been gone.

“Hey, no violence!” Gansey shouted behind his papers.

“Booooo.” Henry whined.

That was the thing about _Gansey & Co. Paranormal Investigations_, or “Gangsey” as the internet liked to call them.

They weren’t like most ghost hunting groups - they didn’t show hoaxes or pretend every poorly constructed house had a demon in the attic.

 _Everything they did was real_.

Gansey and Ronan had started the whole ‘paranormal investigation’ thing for fun in high school. Ronan hadn’t held much esteem to it at the time – some of Gansey’s theories and beliefs were a bit out there, even for Ronan who had known magic since birth – but Gansey was, well Gansey. It was hard not to want to follow him into the darkest part of the forest, with no care for safety, all in the name of looking for ghosts.

It was on one of these trips that they found Noah. Then suddenly they went from 2 to 3.

Without Noah, Ronan really wasn’t sure he ever would have believed in ghosts.

Henry joined them in their Junior year. Ronan had fought his inclusion. Shit had gone down his sophomore year, and the ghost hunts were all that was keeping Ronan afloat. He hadn’t wanted change, but it was hard to fight it. With Henry things became more organized. They went from 3 to 4.

Henry was the one who suggested they start filming. As if overnight they had a youtube channel, a very popular youtube channel. Things slowed down a bit when Gansey and Henry went off to college, but they never stopped. For that period it was almost too much – Ronan was left with a huge amount of the editing as the others had classes and Noah couldn’t help – when the ghost touched electronic things they had a tendency to go _haywire_.

They persisted. Gansey and Henry graduated with a History BA and Electrical Engineering BS between them. Then they were all ready to dive 100% into the Paranormal Investigation jig.

Ronan was sometimes shocked by their success, but when he looked to Gansey it was easy to see how it had happened. Ronan would follow the man to hell at back. It didn’t surprise him thousands of others on the internet did too.

“Hmm, the best I can guess are you either have a very dedicated stalker, or he’s something supernatural himself.” Henry had finally put his phone down, “It’s hard to tell without any details. Do we know if Parrish is this guy’s first or last name?”

Ronan felt himself freeze. He realized, somehow for the first time, that he had absolutely no idea. _God_ , he could be so dumb.

Ronan immediately stood up and walked towards his room. He needed to do some introspective thinking. He needed to figure out just what the hell was wrong with him. How was he supposed to find out now? They’ve been running into each other for months now.

Before he could slam the door shut, Gansey called out: “Ronan, could you dream us some new equipment? The EMF readers haven’t been working right since they got caught in the rain.”

Ronan was almost glad for this new task – at least it could distract him from his newfound boy trouble.

“Yea yea. This time I’ll make sure they’re water proof.” He waved and slammed the door behind him.

That was the other thing that made _Gansey & Co. Paranormal Investigators _special. They had a dreamer on staff. Ronan could pull exactly what they needed from his dreams. Unlike the equipment most other modern ghost hunters used, his dreamthings _actually worked 2_.

* * *

The next time Ronan ran into Parrish, they weren’t in the grocery store like usual. They were outside it. Ronan had just finished his shopping and was packing them into his trunk, when a hand flew out and grabbed his shoulder.

Ronan wasted no time in knocking the surprise attacker aside – he hadn’t been trained in boxing since he was a toddler for nothing - and had intended to return a blow when he recognized the face his fist was aiming for. He stopped it just in time. Parrish didn’t even flinch, though when Ronan lowered his arm, he noticed the other man visually relax.

“What-“

“Call your brother.” Parrish demanded.

Ronan blanked for second, startled and confused. _First the guy snuck up on him, now this?_ “Which one?”

“Shit, hold on.” Parrish turned his attention away from Ronan and towards one of Ronan’s brake lights. For all intent and purposes, Parrish seemed to be concentrating at nothing. Ronan was about to say something, when he realized Parrish wasn’t looking _at_ the light. Ronan got the distinct impression Parrish was looking _through_ it. Right then, Parrish was somewhere else completely.

Then Parrish was back. Slightly dazed and blinking that strange blue electrical energy that sometimes lit up his eyes, but back. “The older one. I don’t think the younger one can answer right now.”

 _Matthew_.

Ronan mind immediately went into panic mode. He dropped his groceries and rushed to open his front car door. He always left his phone in the front console. Gansey always nagged someone would steal it one of these days. _Fuck_ , he couldn’t even remember the last time he had touched it, let alone charged it. He reached for the phone, yanking it from its resting spot in one of the cup holders and began frantically pressing the power button. Nothing was happening. He kept pressing but all he could see what a blank screen that showed nothing but his own crazed expression reflected back. He was about to toss the phone in frustration when the screen flashed a brilliant electric blue. Suddenly, it was completely powered on and Ronan was staring at two dozen missed call notifications from Gansey and Declan.

Ronan immediately clicked Declan’s name. He could barely wait for the call to begin. He could feel his entire body vibrating. When it did connect, he didn’t even have to wait for it to ring.

“It’s about time you called back –“ Declan began. Ronan didn’t have time for his dramatics.

“What happened?”

“If you actually read your texts like a normal person-“

“Declan. What’s wrong with Matthew?”

Ronan could hear silence on the other end and then a loud, heavy sigh. “He’s fine. We got the tests results back. Just a broken right arm and a mild concussion. He’s a little out of it right now, but he’s expected to make a full recovery.”

“What-“ Ronan couldn’t form the right words. His mind was blank. “How?”

“Someone ran a Red. T-boned my car when we were driving through DC.” Declan was quieter now, “We’re lucky y’know. We’re very lucky. Matthew’s made of tough stuff.”

Ronan’s imagination went wild. He tried to picture the accident in his head, of Matthew – no. Ronan couldn’t even imagine his baby brother broken and bound to a hospital bed. He was the whole family’s sunshine. If anything happened to him…. Ronan knew his voice was hoarse when he spoke. “Can I-?”

“He’s sleeping right now.” Declan was silent for a second. “They’re going to keep him overnight, but they’ll discharge him in the morning. I already sent you the address.”

“I’m heading over then. See you in a couple hours.”

“Ronan –“ He hanged up. Ronan leaned back in the car seat for a second and squeezed his eyes shut. _Shit_. He needed to see Matthew right then, he didn’t think he could wait a couple of hours. He pulled up the address on the phone. He was just about to turn the key to start the car when he remembered Parrish.

_Shit!_

Ronan jumped out of the car, expecting to see the scene like he left it. What he found was an empty parking lot. When he looked to his trunk, his groceries were all already packed inside. On top of them was one of those small flower bouquets the grocery store sold. A bouquet he definitely did not buy. They were sunflowers - Matthew’s favorite.

Attached to them was a note:

_Try not to drive like an Asshole._

_-A. Parrish_

* * *

“So now we know his name is A. Parish. What do you think the A stands for?” Henry wondered aloud.

“Andrew, Anthony, Alex, Aaron, Adam, Ashton, Arthur, Aliaster –“ Noah was reciting the names as he counted them with his fingers.

“No way is it Aliaster.” Ronan said.

“No I think Noah’s onto something. Maybe its super embarrassing and that’s why he just puts the A.” Henry brightened up considerably, latching onto the idea. “Maybe it’s something like Adolphus? Did you try google? We know how you get with technology.”

They were supposed to be using this time to research potential future paranormal investigations. Like usual, only Gansey was seriously researching. The rest of them had more pressing matters to attend to.

“Yes I tried google.” Ronan snapped. He also tried Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and in one last desperate attempt: _the phonebook_. He wasn’t about to admit all that though. Especially since he swore he would never use any of the social media accounts friends and family had forced upon him.

“Hmm, we don’t really know if he’s human yet. Maybe the A stands for Alien.” Noah suggested.

Ronan: “What, no-“

“Oh, Alienus Parrish. I like it. I bet it’s his species name!” Henry perked up from his position on the floor. Ronan could see the gears turning in his head. Nothing good would come from this.

“He’s not an alien.” Ronan growled.

“You can’t deny it makes sense.” Henry continued, moving his arms as he spoke. “A. He glows with an electrical blue energy, B. He communicates with something via his mind, and C. Lights go haywire around him! Aliens!”

Ronan hated how he couldn’t completely deny his logic. He felt his cheeks getting hot. It was ridiculous they were even discussing this. “Parish is not an alien.”

“Oh, I bet he escaped from Area 51!” Noah exclaimed. That was the final straw.

Ronan lunged to grab the closest cushion, but when he turned to aim his shot, Noah had already disappeared. Ronan narrowed his eyes and launched the cushion at the second best target. The cushion smashed into Henry’s face, hitting him mid-laugh.

“No fair!” Henry moaned from behind the cushion.

Ronan was getting ready to launch a second cushion, when Gansey suddenly stood from his desk. The scraping sound of his chair against the flooring brought them to a halt.

“I found our next hunt!” Gansey beamed down at them. He turned to face them and held up a crumpled newspaper clipping as if he were a king, reading a new royal decree to the masses.

“Oooh, please tell.” Noah appeared behind Gansey, peaking at the newspaper from over his shoulders.

Gansey cleared his throat and began to speak.

“Our next investigation will be _Dittley’s Cave_ ….”

_In 1885, Jesse Dittley set across the Virginia countryside for a piece of land he could carve into his own._

_He quickly came across a particular offer – a plot of land, free to whoever would take it. The land was fertile, already had the foundation of a house, and had a stream running through the property. The only unusual aspect to the land, was a peculiar cave that sat at the end of the property. No living man had ever managed to find the end of the cave. Most that entered did not come back. Those that did, were never the same._

_It was easy for Dittley to take the land. His intensions were to farm. Start a family. He was not the superstitious type, and cared little for the mysterious cave._

_For the first decade Jesse Dittley prospered. He finished the house and married a lovely wife who birthed multiple, healthy children. Each harvest had produced fertile crops, providing a stable income for the Dittley family._

_Exactly 10 years after the day Jessee Dittley had agreed to take the land, sounds began to emit from the old cave. They quickly became a constant to the Dittley family - the sounds never stopped, continuing throughout the day and night, despite all logic. They were low guttural noises: gashing teeth, distance humming, and growls like no known creature. It didn’t matter how far they were from the cave - they could always hear the sounds perfectly clear, as if they were right next to its mouth._

_The worse part of the sounds was that only the Dittley family could hear them, as if the sounds themselves were beckoning to them._

_One night, Mrs. Dittley finally had enough. She took a hoe and descended into the cave. She would not let this creature take her children. She never returned. The sounds ceased._

_Ten years later after the day of Mrs. Dittley’s disappearance, the sounds began again. This time Jesse Dittley entered the cave. He carried a scythe with him. Whatever creature took his wife would meet the end of his blade. Jesse never returned. The sounds ceased._

_Ten years later, the sounds began again, and the eldest child entered the cave. They had started their own family on the plot of land, and had their own children. The sounds ceased._

_The cycle continued until there were no Dittley’s left on the land, all lost to the ravenous cave._

_Local legend has it, that when the last Dittley entered the cave, another came out. The being claimed to be Jesse Dittley, but he was wrong. Something seemed to move beneath the skin, like it was wearing Jesse like an ill-fitting suit. It was shot multiple times, but it did not fall. Instead of blood, a buzzing black slime oozed from his wounds. With each shot, it became more and more monstrous, as more skin fell away to reveal a darkness no light could pierce. It killed and devoured ten men before they were able to make it retreat back into the cave. They sealed the entrance and swore that no one would ever enter the cave again._

_The lot has stood vacant and the cave silent ever since._

The room was silent – not even Chainsaw made a noise. Ronan wasn’t sure how he felt about this new hunt. It wasn’t like their usual locations. Their hunts were usually campy, with a historical twist Gansey always found a way to sneak in. This hunt was different - something about it was deeply sinister.

For once, he was actually worried. Based on the other’s silence, he wasn’t the only one.

Henry was the first to break the silence. Despite his apparent bravado, they could all hear the waver in his voice:

“Well that certainly sounds spooky.”

* * *

Somehow, in the last couple of months, grocery shopping had become Ronan’s solution to just about everything. Noah would probably say it had less to do with the shopping and more to do with a certain dusty haired mystery man, but Ronan disagreed.

The quiet, empty grocery with the yellow lights and dated, faded music always had the strange ability to calm his nerves. Sometimes it felt like the store was only open for him – it’s not like he’d ever run into another soul besides Parrish before – it definitely didn’t make enough business to justify the hours.

And if he did get to see Parrish? That was just an added perk.

That’s why, on the night before hunt, Ronan found himself at the 24-hour grocery. Ronan would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried about the next 24hrs. _And Ronan never lied_. That meant he had to openly admit to himself he was worried. Somehow that just made everything worse.

It was 2:30 am and Ronan was strolling through the chip aisle. His heart just wasn’t into shopping that night. He always tried to buy food he knew would make Gansey suffer. Tonight, he was just grabbing anything he suspected had zero nutritional value. Gansey would still suffer, but usually Ronan was more creative with the presentation.

He was just about to grab a big bag of pink puffed cheese balls labeled “Unicorn Poop” when the yellowed fluorescent lights above him began to flicker. A pair of frantic footsteps quickly followed.

Ronan turned to look behind him. He wasn’t entirely surprised to see Parrish hurrying towards him. What he was surprised about was Parrish’s demeanor. Even when the other man was completely exhausted, there was always an element of control to him. What he was witnessing now was not control. Parrish looked unhinged.

As the man got closer the lights began to flicker more wildly and blue ripples of electricity were peeling off the ceiling and connecting with Parrish. It reminded Ronan of one of those plasma orbs that toy stores sold when he was little – the ones where you placed your finger on the cool glass and a thin thread of electricity connected to it. Parrish was the center of those orbs, except there was no thin layer of glass to protect everything around him from getting zapped – including Ronan. 

Parrish’s eyes glowered completely, not his usual electric blue glint, but his entire socket emitted a sparking blue light. He crackled with an electric energy Ronan had never seen before and his hair floated above him like some invisible wind was blowing around them.

Whatever power Parrish usually held within him was leaking. For the first time since he had met him, Ronan felt fear towards the other man.

“Tell me you are not going to Dittley’s Cave.” Parrish demanded. Ronan knew he saw the man’s mouth move, but his words weren’t spoken. Instead, the words appeared within Ronan’s own head, so strongly he had to flinch at the power of them.

“How did you know-“

“Do not go to Dittley’s Cave.” The voice grew louder and electricity stronger. Ronan tried to cover his ears. “There is an evil that has lived and existed there for millennia. It would happily devour you and your friends and you could do nothing to stop it!”

A light above them burst with a shower of spark, and then went out. Another to their left did the same.

“Parrish-“

“You especially! It would take you and unmake you and then reform you into something like it!” More energy was streaking off of Parrish. Ronan watched as the chips around them began to shake. Whenever a strand of energy made contact, the bags around it would pop. Ronan didn’t know what to do.

“Ronan it would destroy you!”

More lights were going out. Chips and popcorn were flying around them in the parody of a hurricane. And Parrish had said his name. Ronan. How had Parrish –

Another light popped directly above them and Ronan had to duck to avoid the sparks. More and more energy was coming off of Parrish and it was getting harder to see his silhouette inside the blue glow, like Parrish was no longer there, merely a suggestion of him in the electric humanoid figure. If Ronan didn’t do something quick, he wasn’t sure Parrish would still be Parrish before this was over. He wasn’t sure if any of them would survive.

Ronan reached out to try to grab Parrish. The energy resisted Ronan, but Ronan fought back – he was a dreamer, he could shape dreams and turn them into reality – a human plasma orb was not the scariest thing he’d faced. When his hands collided with the blue electricity, he was surprised to find it felt like the same energy that surrounded him in his dreams. He tried to bend it to his will and was found it pliant. He forced it to move aside, to let reach Parrish. It was like exercising a muscle Ronan didn’t know he had and it was all Ronan could do to grab his shoulders.

“PARRISH, CALM DOWN!” Ronan shouted.

Everything stopped. Lights were held in mid-explosion and snacks stilled in the air around them. It was like time had stopped.

Parrish in front of him was completely frozen. And then his body convulsed and all the energy he emitted was sucked back into him. It was like the aftermaths of an explosion, the brief pause before the shockwave destroyed everything around it ever further.

Except the shockwave never came. The lights turned back to normal, and those that hadn’t blown, glowed their normal yellow florescent tone. Chips and popcorn fell around them. Parrish was still in front of him. The glowing and electric energy ceased. He was clutching the shirt that hung off Ronan’s chest, head held down, and his entire body shook.

Ronan could hear the other man counting beneath his breath with ragged gasps.

“Are you okay?” Ronan said as gentle as he could.

They probably looked ridiculous – it certainly wouldn’t have been the first time. Two grown men clutching each other in the chip aisle surrounded by what appeared to be the battleground to the world’s most dangerous food fight. It didn’t matter to Ronan. He wasn’t letting go of Parrish until he knew he was alright.

It was another moment before Parrish stopped shaking and let out one last, large breath. When he looked up his eyes were normal, only a slight current of electric blue lighting his iris. He looked exhausted.

“I’m fine now. Sorry, I panicked and… lost control” Ronan felt like that was the understatement of the century.

“I can see that.” Ronan jeered, then gentler: “You sure you’re good now?”

Parrish laughed. “Honestly no.” He unhooked himself from Ronan’s shirt and Ronan let his own arms fall aside. “Why’d you have to pick Dittley’s _fucking_ cave of all placed?”

“Gansey-“

Parrish shot him a glare. “I don’t care. Don’t go.”

“I can’t.” Ronan had to go. Gansey had been with him through so much. He supported him when Ronan’s father died, when Ronan was little more than a shell full of vices and anger than the friend Gansey deserved. He meant it when he’d follow Gansey through hell. After all, Gansey had already followed Ronan through his hell.

Parrish was watching Ronan, studying him like he was seeing all his thoughts.

“I know. Doesn’t make it any less stupid, but I know.” Parrish reached around his neck and under his shirt. Ronan watched as he pulled a large clear crystal, attached to a long leather string, from beneath it. Parrish held the crystal in his palm and closed his eyes. A flash of blue electricity came from his palm and for the second time that night the lights flickered. Then they went out.

Parrish opened his eyes and like before, they were glowing completely blue. Unlike before, they were calm, and Ronan felt no fear. For a moment, the only light that surrounded them was the glow of his eyes. As they faded, the lights in the store flickered back on. When Parrish opened his palm, where there was once large crystal, there were now three.

“Here.” Parrish shoved them into Ronan’s limp hands, “Make sure you carry these on you.”

Ronan took a close look at the crystals. Each glowed with an incredible blue light. One was obviously larger than the other two, and somehow glowed even brighter. He must have been gaping or something, because when he looked up at Parrish, he was rolling his eyes.

“The larger one is yours. The two smaller ones are for the others. They might be able to protect you from it, but only for a little while.” Parrish was quiet for a second. When he spoke again, his voice was gentle. “Don’t bring your ghost friend. There’s nothing I can give him and you don’t want to see it consume him.”

Ronan stared at him dumbfounded.

“How do you-“ Ronan started, looking between the crystals and Parrish, “How do you know all of this? Everything, just how?”

Parrish stared at Ronan, and Ronan noticed how unbelievably tired he looked. The bags under his eyes were worse than Ronan had ever seen.

“That’s a long story. Maybe I’ll tell you if you survive.” Parrish tilted his head at Ronan, really looked at him. There was a slight smirk on his tired lips and a light southern drawl in his voice, “As for your name, you pay with credit at check-out. I can read y’know.”

“Oh.” Ronan blinked. He felt numb. And dumb. Ndumb.

Parrish briefly looked around them. He drifted, like whatever energy had kept his going was spent and he was ready to pass out at any second.

“I should get going. Blue’s going to kill me over the stunt I just played.” Parrish yawned, “Shit, I need to find a new crystal.”

“Blue?” Ronan muttered. What’s a blue?

“Roommate.” Parrish said and offered a slight wave. He stifled a second yawn and began walking towards the end of the aisle.

“Oh.” Ronan felt stuck. “You sure you’re safe to drive?”

“Ha, driving advice from you.” Parrish was sarcastic even half asleep. He physically waved aside Ronan concern. Ronan watched him leave. He was almost to the end of the aisle, when Ronan built up the courage and called out.

“Wait Parrish!”

Parrish stopped and turned to look at him.

“Do you want to meet somewhere that isn’t here sometime?”

Parrish smiled slowly. “Like during normal human operating hours and everything?”

Ronan nodded. “Yea. We can do normal human things and everything.”

“So a date?” Parrish was fully smiling now, teeth and everything.

“Yea a date.”

Parrish was quite for a moment, his smile dimmed some, but he nodded.

“Survive first. Then I’ll go on a date with you. Ronan?”

“Yea?”

“Don’t let it unmake you.” Then Parrish turned, and disappeared from sight, leaving Ronan standing alone in the wrecked chip aisle with his ominous warning. It took a moment for Ronan’s mind to catch up with his heart. With it, came the sudden shock of reality.

“Fuck! I forgot to ask his name!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 The sock situation had led to an embarrassing moment caught on film – Ronan removing his boots to reveal Sailor Moon socks beneath. He usually wore all black ones on hunts, just in case, but he hadn’t had time to do laundry that week. When a particularly vengeful spirit soaked him and had to take them off, his goth punk cred was tarnished forever. (It’s not his fault Matthew was really into the show when he was younger. Ronan just happened to see a few episodes. That’s it). 
> 
> 2 Also since they were his dreamthings he could name the equipment whatever he wanted. His EMF Readers weren’t for seeking electromagnetically fields. No. His were Ernest Monster Fucker Readers. Much more practical.


	2. Grocery Lists are the Mark of a True Adult™

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I changed the title from Aisle 3, to Aisle 5 if anyone if reading this and thinks they're going insane.)
> 
> When I originally created the idea for this fic it was significantly more lighthearted (which explains the very thoughtless titles of the fic and chapters). They were just gonna go to a normal haunted house, like normal ghost hunters and maybe fight a poltergeist. Then I decided no, caves are way spookier and there can be way more suffering! Its not surprising it got away from me.
> 
> The grocery store appear as much in this half, which is a little sad, but honestly for the best. Whoever that late-night cashier was deserved a break.
> 
> Thanks for reading! If you spot any errors please let me know. Also I love feedback! I'd love to improve in any way possible!

“I can’t believe your boyfriend got us presents.” Henry cooed as he peered into the clear crystal. They no longer held the brilliant energy they had when Parrish had first handed them over, but Ronan could still feel the strong sense of power that ebbed off of his. “I never held much clout to crystal magic, but I will forever cherish a gift from A. Parrish.” Henry slipped the crystal into a compartment on his vest and velcro-ed it shut. They were all donning their ‘official ghost-hunting gear’ for today’s hunt.

Ronan felt blood rush to his ears. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Ronan, I can’t believe your boyfriend said I couldn’t come.” Noah pouted from the outside the van, completely ignoring him.

“Parrish seems to know more about this cave than us. We wouldn’t leave you behind if I didn’t think there was truth to his words.” Gansey tucked his own crystal into his vest and smiled at the ghost. “Don’t worry Noah, we’ll have plenty of footage for you to review.”

Noah rolled his eyes. “My favorite.”

They spent the remaining morning moving the rest of the equipment into the van. Ronan was carrying the last bag, when he felt someone grab his arm. Ronan turned. Noah looked more serious than Ronan had seen him in years.

“Ronan. Don’t let it unmake you. Don’t let it devour them.” Then he completely disappeared. Ronan startled.

“Fuck! Noah don’t do that to me!” Noah didn’t reappear. Ronan took some breaths to calm his beating heart and turned towards the van. He handed the bag to Henry, and he and Gansey packed away the last of the supplies.

He didn’t need Noah’s warning.

There no way in hell he was letting anything happen to any of them.

* * *

Their destination was only a two hour drive from Monmouth Manufacturing, but they had to park some distance from the site, and walk an additional 30min through the woods before they finally came to Dittley’s Cave.

It wasn’t very impressive.

The old Dittley lot was run-down. The house had long collapsed and rotted away, the only evidence of it some long rotting lumber and surrounding farm had long since returned to Mother Nature. Whatever they had built to seal that cave away had long fallen away too.

The cave was even less impressive.

The opening just looked like a slopping hole in the ground, like it was dug by a giant groundhog. The only thing eerie about it, was that it was dark inside. Darker than Ronan thought possible this close to the entrance.

They stood there in front of the cave for a while, just peering into the darkness. Eventually Henry dug out their cameras and then they were a blur of motion. They took some footage, of the plot and cave, all while Gansey narrated his usual educational spiel. All the while, Ronan tried imagine a shadow creature wearing human skin emerge from that dark opening, imagine what those farmers had seen.

It did little to calm his nerves. He shook the idea out of his head. Dwelling on it would not help, especially as they prepared to make their descent.

“Is everybody ready? Gear working?” Gansey, their fearless leader, looked over them. There was a burning passion in his eyes. Ronan felt his shoulders relax under Gansey’s confidence.

“Everything running in tip-top shape.” Henry said. He pulled out an EMF reader, twisted a few dials, and it let out a happy trill. There was one issue with dreamthings. As ghost hunting gear went, dreamthings were great, but made no conventional sense. That’s where Henry came in. He had the innate ability to make sense of anything.

“Remember. If anything goes South, we immediately retreat. I don’t care about getting footage, if it means putting ourselves in danger.” Gansey usually let out a warning like this before hunts. Usually Ronan would shrug him off, but in front of the cave mouth, it felt a lot realer than usual.

Ronan reached down and clutched the crystal Adam had given him. He had strung it to a leather string, not unlike how Adam originally carried it. He felt its energy throb between his fingers and a burst of confort came with it. He tucked it safe beneath his shirt and vest.

“We’ll be fine Dick.” Ronan said and actually believed it.

Their travel through the cave was slow going. The tunnel’s ceiling was at best Gansey height, which meant both Henry and Ronan had to stoop down to get through the corridor. They’d been traveling through the cave for an hour, and so far the scariest thing the cave had going for it was Ronan’s increasing sense of claustrophobia and his potential future of developing a hunched back.

The dark was as suffocating as it had been when they stood outside the cave, but armed with his dreamthings and surrounded by friends, Ronan didn’t let it bother him.

“Do you think the Dittleys are still down here?” Henry asked.

“I imagine if they were, they’d have long been eaten or decayed.” Gansey responded as they continued down the tunnel.

“That’s sad.” Henry was quieter when he spoke next. “Do you think if we find them we should try to give them a proper burial?”

Ronan thought briefly to Noah’s bones. They had found them beneath the floorboards of a long forgotten Church. Ronan had offered Noah a funeral, but then Gansey had gone off about ley lines, invisible currents of supernatural energy or something and how those were fueling Noah’s ghost form. Ronan never pretended to understand it, but he let it be and Noah’s bones rest there to this day.

“I think it’d be best if we left them alone.” Gansey stated diplomatically, “We can’t pretend to know they’re true wishes or what truly happened to them.”

“Not yet at least.” Ronan grunted.

Gansey was quiet for a moment, “You’re right. We’ll find out what happened to them.”

As they progressed further down the tunnel, the darkness only grew more and more suffocating, like it was physically manifesting around them. It didn’t halt them, but the distance their headlamps extended seemed to be shortening by the minute. They were another 20min in when their headlamps went out completely.

“What? They don’t even have batteries to run out!” Henry shouted indignantly. Ronan heard some rustling coming from the others, and Ronan reached up to take off his own headlamp.

“It’s definitely strange.” Gansey agreed. He heard some banging from Henry, no doubt trying to knock the lights into submission.

Ronan held the headlamp in his free hand. They were dreamthings, one of the first he had dreamed for their ghost adventures. Headlamps that never died. It didn’t make sense. He tried to feel at it, see if he could find a crack in it, _anything._ Then Ronan noticed the material felt differently then it usually did – slimey, as if it were –

“The fuck? Are they melting?” Henry mutter, then shouted. “Shit, check the other equipment!”

Ronan tossed the headlamp aside. He grabbed the other equipment and found it in the same state. The cameras, EMF readers, even the stupid spirit box Gansey had insisted on year ago – the all falling apart in front of him. He could feel a chill creeping up his spine. He remember Parrish’s absolute panic.

_It would take you and unmake you._

Ronan reached beneath his shirt and jerked out the crystal. It released a brilliant light that momentarily blinded him in the dark. When his eyes adjusted he felt true fear for the first time.

Further down the corridor, not even 20 ft away, was a writhing mass of black slime. It encompassed the entire cave and every particle seemed to be buzzing, like it was in constant movement, reshaping itself every second. In horror he watched it writhe. He saw screaming faces form and be swallowed within the mass; animals, children, and _other things_ \- things Ronan couldn’t even wrap his head around, things beyond human comprehension. He got the sharp impression that he was seeing what it meant to be devoured.

They were landlocked, frozen in shock watching this writhing _thing_ , when it let out an inhuman scream and reached out. Impossibly fast it was before them, compressing and stretching into a shape that was almost humanoid but distinctly wrong; the torso too long, the legs too spindly, and the head constantly dripping, unable to keep a solid form. It was like a spider with too few, but too many legs at the same time. Just looking at him caused a sharp pang of pain in Ronan’s temple.

“Ru-“ Gansey couldn’t even finish the word before the creature was physically on top of them. It leapt forward, reaching directly for them with dripping tendrils. It sent Ronan was flying through the air. He heard a large crunch, followed by a bright flare of pain in his back. Ronan tried to move, but the pain hurt too much. He pressed his hands into the ground, and tried to force himself anyway. It was excruciating.

When he looked up, he expected to see the _thing_ on them again. Instead, he saw Henry and Gansey besides him, and blue electrical energy streaking from each one of their cystals, surrounding them in a large electrical orb.

A terrible shriek came from in front of them. The writhing mass was there, trying reach them but each tendril was knocked back by an angry flare of energy, like the thin glass of a plasma orb, preventing _it_ from grabbing them.

“What the fuck.” Henry whispered voice in complete awe and shock.

“We have to move! We have to move now!” Gansey was already on his feet and reaching down to Henry and Ronan. He half helped up, half dragged them further from the _thing_. Ronan didn’t understand how he was so steady on his feet – Ronan himself almost drunk.

They staggered through the corridor, trying to run as best they could. They heard the creature behind them, screaming and writhing, making sounds Ronan hadn’t thought possible. With ever retching noise came an electrical crackle as the crystals continued the lightning storm around them.

Ronan didn’t want to think about how long the shields would last, about how much energy Parrish had fed them. He didn’t want to think about anything right now.

“We’re getting there, don’t stop!” Gansey shouted, his hand gripping Ronan’s tightened. Ronan felt another jab of pain between his temple. God, it hurt so much. He could feel something dripping from his nose and ears. Something was getting in his eyes. He reached up his free hand, try to wipe whatever it was. It was slimy, like a mucous sticking to him in the worst way possible.

He looked down at his hand and found it covered in a dark black substance. With shock, he realized it felt exactly like the melting handlamps.

Everything in Ronan’s mind screamed. He had made a mistake coming down here.

He was going to be unmade.

Ronan turned to look at the creature chasing them, watched as it lashed out a grotesque tendril thicker than a tree truck. With a roar, it shattered through the defense the crystals had afforded them. The tendril thinned and stretched towards them, forming a spindly hand. It whooshed past Ronan and latched onto Gansey. He could hear his friend scream behind him. A second tendril broke through the defense, another nightmare hand reached past him and he heard Henry fall.

Ronan wasn’t fast enough to react. The entire creature moved in one fluid motion and crashed on top of him. He fell to the ground, but the electrical shield held. Ronan’s crystal still glowed against the onslaught of darkness. The creature rose up and slammed against the shield again and Ronan could see the crystal’s light flickering and fading against the weight. The creature pressed its entire body against the shield - sludge dripped from what Ronan assumed was the _thing_ ’s mouth - corroding sections of the shield. Ronan felt the slime drip onto him, so cold it felt like burning. Ronan grabbed the crystal in his right hand, trying to instill every ounce of defiance he held inside of him.

He could feel it pulse stronger in his grasp.

He would not let them end here.

_Don’t let it unmake you. Don’t let it devour them._

Ronan needed to fight it. He needed to be able harm it. He needed to create something that could destroy the very thing that could destroy him.

Ronan clasped the crystal in both hands and closed his eyes. He thought of his dreamthings, waking up with them in his hands, mended and folded by his very mind to become reality. He thought of Parrish’s energy, of how similar to his dreams it felt.

He reached into himself, into the crystal, and willed it to bend to his reality. He felt the crystal shift beneath his palms, stretch under his command, and take point.

When he opened his eyes to view his handy-work, he was not met by the cysrtal sword he expected, but the dark dripping abyss of _it_. Before he could even cry out, the barrier was gone and _it_ latched onto him. He felt himself be devoured. Everything around him was cold, all the warmth taken from him, until he barely remembered what warmth was. He tried to thrash inside the mass, but it was coiled around his every limb, holding him in place.

He just needed to free his arms. He could still feel the sword in his numb hands. He just needed to hit it. Needed to destroy it.

 _Stop fighting_ A voice whispered in Ronan’s mind and an instant jolt of pain came with it. He tried to scream, but he couldn’t even open his mouth.

 _Let me unmake you. Let me reform you._ Ronan saw images flash through his mind. The creature devouring, absorbing it victims, combining it into its self, becoming them, but in the most perverted sense. He felt the vast and incredible and impossible, but absolutely evil power that throbbed through the _thing’_ s entire being. Where Ronan was creation and dreams, this thing was rot and nightmare.

 _Become like me_ , it whispered.

 _Fuck you_. Ronan thought his every part of his mind that still worked. He clutched the crystal sword as tightly as he could and tried to feed whatever remaining energy he had left into it. He felt a warm pulse from its handle, and gripped it tighter. A faint flow began to appear in front of him.

 _We will not fall here!_ Ronan screamed in his head. Instantly, the faint glow turned into a brilliant white light. It pushed aside the darkness, and Ronan could feel the creature scream and loose grip around him.

Ronan reached up with the sword and stabbed into black abyss.

 _This thing would not get his friends. It would not get him._ These thoughts fueled his every strike.

With every stab the creatures withered more furiously. Ronan could hear guttural shrieks around him, new ones let out with ever slice of the sword. Ronan ignored the cold slime that covered and burned him. He ignored the sharp pain that bloomed across his body as the creature attacked him from within itself. He ignored the pain in his arms as he raised the sword high above his head, and jabbed it straight into the center of _it_.

The crystal sword cracked as it made impact, and shattered.

For a moment, Ronan thought all hope lost. Then, the incredible white light within the sword was released, exploding in front of Ronan’s eyes like a dying star. He heard one last terrible scream and then the dark around him vanished - every inch of it replaced with a brilliant blinding light. It was the last thing he saw, before everything faded.

When Ronan opened his eyes, light was all he could see. He was floating, in an expanse of seeming nothingness. It was so bright he wanted to close his eyes to it.

“That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.” A voice said besides him. Ronan turned his head to see Parrish sitting there besides him, somehow floating in the never ending expanse. Parrish reached out and cupped Ronan’s cheek. “It almost unmade you.”

“Like fuck I was going to let that happen.” Ronan’s voice was so hoarse he didn’t recognize it. He tried to move, but everything hurt. The pain didn’t stop him from grinning like mad at Parrish. “Had to survive first, right?”

“Yea,” Parrish smiled back, “Yea you did.” He lifted his hand from Ronan’s cheek and Ronan missed the warmth of it. Parrish leaned forward, and rested him palm on Ronan’s forehead - “Now wake up you idiot.” – and wacked him on the head.

Ronan startled up with an empty gasp. He couldn’t breathe. Something was blocking his throat and his body was immediately wracked with coughing. Someone turned him on his side, and he felt slimy mucus escape from his lungs. Someone was whacking his back and it _hurt_. Larger pieces of sludge crawled their way out of his throat, slow releasing its hold on Ronan. It felt like was dying all over again.

It must’ve been forever when Ronan finally hacked up the last of the black goo. His throat was ripped raw and all he wanted to do was sleep. He collapsed back onto the ground. He was completely exhausted.

“Ronan.” A voice said from his right. Ronan recognized that voice. “Ronan. I need you to open your eyes or Henry and I are going to assume the worst.”

“You wouldn’t Dick.” Ronan rasped. Each made his throat hurt worse. “Like me too much.”

Henry snorted from his left. “He’s obvious delusional. I say we cut him as a loss now.”

Ronan cracked his eyes open. He winced as sunlight flooded around him. He promptly shut his eyelids tight again.

Gansey spoke calmly. “Now we still need to get back to the van-”

“Fuck that. Leave me behind.” Ronan heard a large sigh from his right and then felt someone tug at his arm. Then someone was tugging at his other arm. Suddenly he was being lifted, half carried, half dragged across the forest floor.

Ronan cracked his eyes opened again. Gansey and Henry were holding him up. They were all making slow and unsteady progress towards the van.

“Why are you so heavy Lynch?” Henry groaned.

“I don’t suppose you could help?” Gansey tried to talk calmly, but Ronan could hear the strain in his voice. Ronan tried to channel energy to his legs, remember what it felt like to walk, and found he was able to take one stumbling step forward. He felt like a newborn calf. All long limbs, no balance.

Together they made it back to the van, as one giant, 3-headed calf, that could barely find its limbs to stumble forward.

When they made it back to Monmouth Manufacturing Noah leaped on top of Ronan, and nearly cried.

“I felt you. I felt you almost leave us.” He whispered in Ronan’s ear. Ronan did cry then. He sat there, clutching Noah and sobbing until he passed out.

When he woke up next, he had slept for 24-hrs straight. It was a dreamless sleep. He was grateful for that. He had the feeling that any dreams that came after being in that _thing_ , would not be good ones.

After they all felt human again, they came together to review what footage they retrieved from the hunt. It wasn’t much. Henry had managed to retrieve some of the data from the destroyed cameras, but all they clearly showed was their initial trek to the location and plain rock wall. When they reached the creature, the image turned to static and distorted screams.

The tunnel had collapsed after Ronan’s supposed slaying of the creature, so even if they wanted to go back and look for more evidence, it was a no-go.

The crystals Parrish had given him were completely shattered too. Gansey had apologetically handed Ronan a zip-lock bag with the broken pieces when he’d first woken. Ronan doubted Parrish would want them back like this.

“Ugh this sucks.” Henry moaned, clicking the next file which showed nothing but static. “What’s the point of almost dying if we didn’t even get any good footage!”

“It is a shame, but we did get something from it.” Gansey spoke as he flipped various maps and booked scattered around him on the floor.

Henry, Noah, and Ronan shared a look. “And what’s that?” Ronan asked.

“The existence of another ley line!” Gansey picked up one of the maps and turned it toward them. “Look, if you follow the route of the cave we took it matches where a ley line was hypothesized to exist years ago! Considering the power of the creature, it must have been feeding on the line for centuries. I already called around to my colleagues and they all agree. I was even able to locate a specialist on the lines – a Ms. Sargent. She’s actually not too far from here! I’ve already booked an appointment so we could speak with her a soon as-“

Ronan blocked Gansey as he turned back to the static on the screen. As happy he was for his friend, the whole experience was still too close for him to feel anything but pain and exhaustion.

It was worse knowing they had no evidence of the _thing_. Nothing left of it besides a hypothesis of a magic current that ran through the ground it nearly killed them on. Ronan nearly laughed at how shitty the situation was.

He got up from their meeting area. Henry and Noah were already engrossed in Gansey’s map, they didn’t stop him from leaving. When he reached his room, he flopped onto his bed. The sweet oblivious of dreamless sleep grasped him before his head even hit the pillow.

* * *

_Four days_ after Ronan had nearly been unmade, he found himself in the 24-hr grocery at 3am. He picked up some chips, a box of tea, and one of those old finger skateboards3. He had found it jammed behind the shelf in the soup aisle. It must have been there for years. He thought Noah would like.

He also tried not to think about the real reason he was at the mart.

* * *

_Thirteen days_ after Ronan had nearly been unmade, he stood in front of the tiny hardware selection at the grocery. It was 1am, and he was seriously considering whether or not he could just super glue Parrish’s damn crystals back together. He stood in that line contemplating for a full hour before he gave up and headed home.

* * *

_Fifteen days_ after Ronan had nearly been unmade, he was in the grocery during actual daylight. It was rare form for him, and he almost felt like an accomplished adult.

Ronan even had a list and everything. If he didn’t have a complete aversion to using his phone, he would’ve called Declan to gloat.

He was just about to pick up their much needed bread, when something caught his attention. In the corner of his eye he spotted it - a flickering yellow fluorescent light in the dairy section. Ronan was embarrassed at how quickly he had dashed to the milk. He was even more embarrassed when he busted onto the scene and nearly startled the worker switching out the lights off of his ladder.

Ronan must’ve looked like an idiot to those around him too, because some child, dressed in what he could only describe as clown clothes and holding a basket full of yogurt, was watching him with a smirk on her lips. When she started to approach him, he flipped her off and stalked away – completely ignoring her indignant “Hey Asshole!” as he left the store.

The worst part was he had completely forgotten to buy the groceries.

* * *

_Eighteen days_ after Ronan had nearly been unmade, he grasped the bag of fragmented crystal in his right hand and committed himself to dream that night.

When he opened his eyes, he was in that endless expanse of light again. This wasn’t normal for his dreams and in any other circumstance, he would have panicked. In this instance, it was exactly what he needed.

Ronan closed his eyes as he floated there and imaged the crystal Parrish had first pulled from the leather string around his neck: the large, unblemished stone that glowed with an internal power only comparable to Parrish’s own. When Ronan opened his eyes, he grinned. There, in front of him, was the perfect match to the original crystal, shining blindingly bright, even brighter than the light that already surrounded them.

He reached out and grabbed it. When his fingers stretched around it, he felt a familiar warmth rush into him.

He opened his eyes to the ceiling of his bedroom. Nestled in his right palm, was the unblemished crystal, a faint blue light shining from within it. The bag of crystal fragments had disappeared, reshaped into something whole.

* * *

_Twenty-two days_ after Ronan had nearly been unmade, he found himself standing outside a small house Gansey claimed was the home of ‘ley line experts.’ Ronan wasn’t convinced.

The first thing that set Ronan off was the sign. Near the road, painted with huge garish letters, was an advertisement for the so called ‘experts’:

**The Magic Mirror: Occult Shoppe and Museum**

We offer:

Tarot, Aura, and Tea Readings

Essentual Oils, Incense and Herbs

Specially Crafted Tea Blends

Visit us for Knowledge, Supplies,

and Arcane Entertainment!

The second thing was that this ‘occult shoppe’ was literally just a house. It was an older house, one that could use some repair, but was well-cared for. From the outside, the bottom floor looked like it had been converted into the ‘shoppe’ section, while Ronan guessed the top was where these ‘ley line experts’ actually lived.

It was also in the middle of nowhere. Sure, they were only 20 minutes from town, but the house had no neighbors for miles and was almost completely built into the forest. Even if Ronan did believe in what this place was selling, there was no way this place wasn’t a complete scam.

Ronan snorted. “This was the best you could do Dick?”

“I’ll have you know Ms. Sargent is considered highly in her field. She and her partner are considered the upmost experts in anything related to ley lines.”

“Partner? Doesn’t that make her Mrs. Sargent.” Henry looked up at shop over his phone, obviously more curious than Ronan.

“Not at all. Their’s is a platonic partnership - friends.” Gansey grinned sheepishly and started walking towards the front door, “I was chewed out heavily when I said the same on the phone. I suggest you don’t make the same mistake. Apparently he’s been under the weather recently, that’s the whole reason we had to wait so long to visit.”

“Sounds like she just didn’t want to see you.” Henry quipped as he took a quick picture of the outside. He frowned and took a few more. Ronan glanced over at Henry’s phone. In each photo, surrounding the house was an odd, yet familiar, electrical energy.

Henry shrugged and pocketed his phone to follow after Gansey.

“Hmm, I like the energy of this place.” Noah said from besides him. There was a suspicious twinkle in his eye, “It’s nice, reminds me of someone. Lets go in!” Then Noah popped out of existence, startling Ronan _again_.

“This is bullshit that’s whats up.” Ronan grumbled, but followed them just the same.

As soon as they opened the door, they were met with an onslaught of smells and colors. Various tied herbs hanged from ceiling and Ronan spotted an entire incense display tucked into the corner. Every surface seemed to some sort of crystal or stone attached to it – each claiming to heal the user of ‘negative energy.’ He doubted any of them could hold a candle to the crystal Parrish had given them.

Ronan was almost impressed to see an entire wall dedicated to the specialty crafted tea their sign had advertised. They seemed to have a ‘healing’ tea for everything, from troubled dreams to sweaty armpits. What he didn’t understand was the display sign that read: “Be Warned. Tea will make you regret tastebuds.” Ronan wasn’t sure what type of customer that advertising was supposed to convince to actually buy the product.

All in all, Ronan felt his initial reaction to the shop was right. It was a total scam.

They had just made their way to an adjoined room, one simply and correctly labeled “BOOKS” – the walls and several small tables in the room were completely covered in various titles, much to Gansy’s delight – when a voice called out from somewhere deeper in the house.

“Hold on a sec, I’ll be right with you!” There was the distinct sound of crashing and then foots steps hurrying towards them. In a flurry of insane color, the owner of the voice stood in front of them. Ronan instantly recognized her as the yogurt clown child from the grocery store.

The child wore a pleasant smile and her gaze swept across the group as she spoke:

“Hi my name is Blue Sargent, I’d be happy to give a tour or answer any questions YOU-“ Her eyes met Ronan’s and her entire demeanor shifted to obvious distain. She even twitched her nose in disgust at him, but Ronan swore there was something else, something mischievous sparkling in her eyes.

“Hello Asshole. I never expected to meet you again. Unfortunately never would have been too soon. Leave.” She started motioning her arms towards the door, as if she were sweeping him away.

“Yogurt Gremlin.” Ronan jeered, “I’d happily be anywhere else but I’m obligated to be here.”

“Ah yes, hello. “ Gansey stepped between them and offered his hand to Blue. When she looked at it with the same disgust as Ronan, Gansey dejectedly removed it. “I’m Gansey of the _Gansey & Co Paranormal Investigators_. We uh spoke on the phone?”

Blue snorted. “Oh yea, I remember. You’re the idiots who decided to go the Dittley’s Cave. How was that?”

“We all managed to survive just fine.” Gansey said diplomatically. Blue rolled his eyes at him.

“No thanks to you lot, that’s for sure.” She said, not uncruelly.

“I killed that _thing_.” Ronan growled. Blue flickered her eyes to him, unimpressed.

“MmHmm. And where’d you get that crystal then?” Blue smirked and pointed to the large crystal that hanged from Ronan’s neck. After Ronan had dreamed it he fashioned with leather string, just as Parrish had. He figured he should wear, just in case he ran into Parrish. No other reasons.

Ronan felt his cheeks grow hot.

“None of your business.” He snapped.

“Cute.” Blue drawled, then turned back to Gansey. She clapped her hands together put back on the pleasant smile she wore when she greeted them. “Now, if I remember correctly you were seeking more information on Ley Lines, yes?”

“Yes, that’s correct!” Gansey quickly said before anyone else could speak.

“Well, you’ve come to the perfect place. Follow me.” Blue turned from them and began walking deeper into the shop. She led to section of the house labeled “employees only” and they entered a hallway that led to multiple rooms, each decorated in its own bizarre fashion. At the end of the hallway, one of the rooms looked like it was glowing with a familiar blue light.

Before Ronan could get a good look, Blue stopped at the second room on the right, one that just had a beaded curtain for entry. She pulled the strands aside, and beckoned them within. Inside the room, various maps were plastered to the walls; each with strange lines highlighted in interested patterns that Ronan knew weren’t on normal maps. Where there wasn’t a map, there was a cluttered bookshelf, filled with what appeared to be journals. There must have been hundreds of books and most looked handwritten. Ronan picked on up to find a journal entry signed – _A.P._

Blue cleared her throat and directed their attention to one of the walls. Ronan set the book aside and walked closed. It was a map of the surrounding area. Around Dittley’s Cave was a large red X.

Gansey looked at the map like a kid in a candy shop.

“Is that-“

“Yes.” Blue nodded. 

“And those lines! You’ve traced the ley lines so accurately!”

“Did it all myself, thank you very much.” The smile she flashed Gansey was genuine this time. “Unfortunately we were never able to explore the ley line around the cave. It was too dangerous for exploration, and our less traditional methods would’ve..,” Blue paused. She glanced at Ronan, “ended poorly for my partner.”

Henry whistled from behind Ronan. “Have you explored every ley line on these maps? That’s a lot of work”

“Most of them. We tend to skip the ones that are already heavily documented though.” Blue shrugged and gestured towards the bookshelves, “Those are all our field journals. We usually fill a couple for each ley line we visit.”

Gansey was delighted. “Do you think I could read some of them? Maybe compare notes?”

Blue rolled her eyes at Gansey again, but she was smiling this time. “I mean, that’s why you’re here right? You’re going to help me map the line that ran beneath Dittley’s old cave.”

“Yes of course!” Gansey fumbled through his bag, dragging out his own journals and the few tapes the survived the trip. He presented them to Blue with stars in his eyes.

“He’s already smitten.” Henry learned over to whisper to Ronan.

Noah suddenly appeared besides them. “Awww, I think it’s cute.”

Blue looked up and startled at the whole new person.

“Oh hello-“ She began and then everything went dark. She cursed. “It’s just the power. It’ll be back in a few seconds, don’t worry.” As soon as she finished, they flickered back on. Everything would’ve been fine, except they didn’t _stay_ on. Instead the previously sensible overhead lightning had decided to flicker at an increasing rate that could only be compared to strobe lights.

Blue groaned. “Adam must’ve fallen asleep again.” She immediately turned to Ronan and smirked. “Hey asshole, wanna go wake up your boo?”

Ronan blinked at her. _What did she just say? Boo?_ “My who?”

She leveled him with an unimpressed stare. She had just opened her mouth, probably for some cutting remark, when Henry spoke up.

“Wow. Looks like this Parrish is pretty good at finding Ley Lines.” Henry was holding up one of the journals, one signed with a large A.P. on the front.

A.P.

A. Parrish.

Adam Parrish.

Henry was waggling his eyebrows at Ronan and in any other situation; Ronan would’ve punched him for it. Right now, he had other concerns.

“I believe we can relieve Ronan of research duties for today.” Gansey said, hiding his smile behind his own journal.

Blue pointed to the door. “You heard your boss. Down the hall and to your left. It’ll be the room that’s glowing, can’t miss it.”

Blue wasn’t finished speaking when Ronan ducked out of the room. He moved so fast he almost got trapped on the stupid beaded curtain.

He could hear Henry and Noah’s catcalls behind him, but he barely registered them. He was on a mission, and that was to get to Parrish – no Adam, immediately. He headed towards the glowing office and as he got closer, he wanted to whack himself for not noticing it was Adam sooner.

There, asleep on the desk with his arms cradling his head was Parrish. A. Parrish. Adam. Energy was filtering off him like static discharge and where it had once spooked him, Ronan now found the crackling energy puffing up Adam’s hair adorable.

Ronan was smiling so hard it hurt. He hadn’t smiled like this in years.

He walked towards the desk and knocked on its hard surface.

“Hmmm” Adam mumbled, but made no move.

“Hey,” Ronan spoke softly. He reached out his hand, pushing aside some of his hair, and leaned toward Adam’s good ear. “I believe you owe me a date.”

With a flash of energy, Adam pushed himself completely straight in his chair. Ronan had missed getting whacked in the head by the sudden movement, and was laughing from his side of the desk. The lights had gone out again and Adam was staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

In the distance Ronan could hear an aggravated “Adam!”

Adam blinked at him a couple of times, and then shook with head. The lights flickered back on and Ronan couldn’t help but smirk at Adam’s dazed state. This was very different from their usual encounters.

“How-“ Adam stopped for a second, “What?”

“Shouldn’t you already know that?” Ronan teased.

Adam rolled his eyes at Ronan, but it was easy to spot the smile on his lips. “It doesn’t work that way. I’m guessing you’re part of the ghost hunters with the sudden interest in ley lines Blue was talking about.” Adam yawned and rubbed at his eyes. “Sorry, I’ve been a bit out of it the last couple weeks.”

“I may have a solution to that.” Adam sent Ronan a suspicious look before his eyes caught on the crystal around Ronan’s neck. His eyes widened in surprise. “I believe this belongs to you.”

Adam tentatively reached his hand out to it. As soon as his fingers made contact, the crystal came to life, and crackled with electric energy. Adam smiled up at Ronan, awe in his voice. “But wasn’t it shattered?”

Ronan nodded. “It was. I dreamt a new one. Figured that’d be better than me trying to glue the shards back together.” Ronan reached around his neck and removed the crystal. He held it out to Adam.

“You considered it though, didn’t you?” Adam laughed. Ronan could feel his cheeks color.

“You did!” Adam laughed harder. He took the crystal and placed it around his neck, exactly where it had been before he had given it to Ronan all those weeks ago. There was an immediate change to him – the energy surrounding them calmed and retreated back into him. He looked… settled now.

Adam let out a sigh of relief. He reached out and grabbed Ronan’s hand.

“Thank you. It’s easier with the crystal.”

“No, I’m the one who should thank you.” Ronan interwove their fingers, “For giving it to us. It could’ve gone…bad.”

Adam squeezed Ronan’s hand. “Yea. It could’ve.”

There was a pause as Ronan struggled to keep images of the worst case scenario out of his mind. Adam's hand shook slightly in his and Ronan was positive the other man had much clearer ideas of how badly it could've gone.

“Soooo you’re a dreamer?” Adam asked, _smoothly_ switching topics.

Ronan snorted. “Yea, you didn’t know? I assumed with your whole -” Ronan waved his hand around Adam instead of trying explain it, “- you know.”

“Nope. I just knew you had a special energy to you.” Adam shrugged, “It’s not like dreamers are particularly common. Never met one before.”

“They usually don’t last very long. My dad was one. It didn’t end too well for him.” Ronan didn’t mention he was the one who found the body. Adam squeezed his hand again, and Ronan got the distinct feeling Adam knew anyways.

“So you’re a…witch?”

“Ha,” Adam said, “I wish it was that easy. Let’s just say I’m a psychic with a very strong connection to the ley lines.”

“Sounds made up.”

Adam shook his head. “Says the guy who can bend reality to him whim.”

Ronan smirked and leaned closer to Adam. “Hmm. So you think I could bend reality and get us out of here?”

“ _Very smooth_ ,” Adam teased and leaned closer himself, “I do think that could be arranged.”

Ronan wasn’t sure which one of them initiated it. Just that they were inches apart and then suddenly had come together, like crashing waves during a thunderstorm.

Kissing Adam was incomparable to anything Ronan had ever experienced. Adam was energy, pure electric. Static tickled Ronan’s tongue and it coursed through his every crevice. He felt the familiar sensation of warmth wash over him, until he was buzzing with that indescribable energy. It was only natural to press forward, to deepen their kiss, to both give and take more until he was lost in those lips.

As the kiss deepened, suddenly Ronan wasn’t just Ronan any more. He was Ronan and Adam and dreams and the ever expanding stretch of energy that connected every inch of the Earth. They were the ground, the dirt right before the rainfall, the crisp sent of ozone as lightning struck the earth and impossible things that created their own reality.

Ronan remembered, when he had first seen Adam, the distinct impression that there was a something other about him, that Ronan hadn’t even scratched the surface of Adam - that there was a bigger picture Ronan couldn’t see.

Not only could Ronan see the bigger picture now. Ronan was a part of it.

“ADAM!” Blue shouted from down the hall. As suddenly as their kiss had started, it broke apart. Ronan felt dazed, like he had become larger than himself and had to figure out how limbs worked again. It reminded him of dreaming.

When he had finally gained control, Ronan almost thought he was dreaming. Literal sparks of electricity were flying all around them.

He was unsurprised to find the lights had gone out again too.

Ronan turned to Adam and found the other man covering his face with his hands, hiding his embarassment. From what Ronan could see behind his fingers, Adam’s face was beat red and the electrical currents were coursing around him, making his hair float again.

Ronan laughed and leaned closer. He grabbed Adam’s hands in his own and lowered them from his face.

“Hey,” Ronan whispered and delivered a quick chaste kiss to the lips, “You _electrify_ me.”

When they pulled apart this time, they were both laughing.

“You are the absolute worst,” Adam gasped between laughs.

Ronan barely noticed when the lights flickered back to life above them – too transfixed by Adam’s smile. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

“So, about getting out of here…” Ronan said.

Adam grinned back. “Just lead the way.”

Ronan took Adam’s hand in his and he was never letting go.

_God_ , Ronan was ready to be domestic _as fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3\. Henry later informed Ronan that the proper name for those tiny finger skateboards was Fingerboard. This is information Ronan never wanted to know and is now sharing it with everyone humanly possible. If he has to suffer, then the rest of the world does too.
> 
> Epilogue of Sorts:  
> \- Blue 100% joins Gansey & Co. Paranormal Investigators. Their fan base triples overnight. (Eventually it becomes Gansey & Blue Paranormal Investigators but that’s many years in the future).  
> \- Blue starts to do little educational side videos on ley lines and various occult topics for the team. Usually she’s joined by Gansey, but everyone takes a turn. (The most popular ones are of her and Ronan)  
> \- Adam occasionally makes guest appearances on the show and is instantly labelled the Gangsey Cryptid by the fan community. Noah, the actual Gangsey Cryptid, finds this hilarious.  
> \- Ronan and Adam continue to use puns as weapons. The latest ones included “I’m all charged up for you,” and “You’re my dream come true.” Everyone regrets they ever met.  
> \- Henry, Ronan, and Gansey learn just how terrible the tea tastes  
> \- Adam opens up to Ronan about what a ‘psychic with a very strong connection to the ley lines’ even means and how it happened. Ronan is not pleased. Thankfully reason (Adam) stops him from attempting homicide. (When he was younger, Adam was beaten to near death by his father and left in the woods. Luckily a ley line ran through the area and fused with Adam’s essence, saving him. Blue and her moms found him. Unfortunately he never got the hearing in his left ear back).  
> \- Henry and Noah start selling increasingly bizarre things through the Gangsey Store. Their fans have not disappointed, and they’re only a little let down by the fact they weren’t the first ones to think of selling bath water.  
> \- I could go on forever but let’s go with lots more happens with various other characters from the book! Who knows, maybe they even decide to do a special on finding Glendower! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!!


End file.
